Mistakes

A friend of mine once told me a mistake is never stupid if you learn from it. Today was full of a lot of mistakes that I definitely learned from, used to help me, and hope to never repeat again.

I went up today with Wendy to pre-ride the race course for the race this Saturday. Although the trail was not marked we had a map marked with all the different trails we had to take. The first of the course was pretty easy to follow it followed the same route of the Icup race at least until you hit the dirt road that goes up hill, and then it changes. Instead of going up switchback alley, you go down. Well, I didn't catch that and we went up switchback alley, got to the top and realized we had gone the wrong direction.

We went back down switchback alley, but did not realize we needed to cross the road and go down. Instead we continued up the road to the chair lift. We got to the chair lift looked at the number and once again realized we had not gone the right way. We lucked out and talked to one of the guys who knew where we were supposed to go, and he set us straight, so it was back down to switch back alley, and down we went. This downhill is very fun and fast, in fact it is so fast you can miss the camouflaged trail you must turn right on. Which Brian and I did (forgot to mention we picked up another rider pre-riding the course along the way), but luckily Wendy did not. We went past, but it wasn't long before we heard Wendy calling us back.

Can you see the trail you are supposed to go on. It's straight ahead.

It turns out it was a good Wendy stopped where she did, because when we climbed back up she was standing right over my multi-tool. Apparently my bag had come unzipped and it had fallen out. How lucky we had missed the trail. If we hadn't it would have been ages before I knew my multi-tool was gone. I got the tool zipped up my bag and took off down this new trail that has seen very little use. For a trail that has not been ridden much it rides really well.

We lucked out and for the next few turns we were able to go the right way. We did miss a turn that took us up to Speed Trap, but we figured that out and were good to go. Now came the next complicated part finishing in the right place. Apparently somewhere there is a trail that ends just above the upper parking lot. We took one way and ended up just before the top of uphill climb that drops into the single track--this was not the right turn, so we turned back. We continued down, but I never could fine the place we needed to go, so we ended up dropping down onto the road. Oh well, I guess I will find out the ending on race day. I sure hope they have it well marked.

When we got back to the car I reached in my bag and realized my keys were gone! I can't believe I didn't think of this when I put my multi-tool back in. Oh well, at least I had a good idea as to where they might be. Wendy went down to the office, while I took off back up the hill. Going up I got to thinking about some of the mistaken trails I had taken and decided there might be a quicker way to Switchback Alley. I took the trail just to the right of the road which took me to bobsled. Now bobsled is a fun down, and today I discovered not such a bad up, but you must be on your guard for the down hillers, because there are a lot of turns and it can be precarious, luckily for me there were no incidents on bobsled.

However, this turned out to not be the case going up speed trap. I am not sure why it has this name, but you can get some serious speed on this trail. Just as I was coming up the steepest part of the hill a downhiller rounded a corner flying down crazy fast (a minimum of 25, but I am sure faster). The trail was gravely on one side of the road, so both of us were on the same side of the trail. I was not going fast enough to cross the trail, and he was going way too fast to do much of anything. I had just enough time to say "oh sh*#" and turn my bike towards the opposite side of the trail, but the turn was not enough. The downhiller collide right into the side of my shoulder and face. I actually did not go down, but the rider went down hard into the bushes.

He was a sweet kid and kept making sure I was okay. I was not sure as I did not quite have my senses about me, and I lost my hearing in my right ear--boy did it hurt. After a moment I decided I would be fine and let him know. He kept making sure I was okay even though he obviously had hurt his hip. Nice kid. I left continuing up speed trap tentatively and feeling the throbbing in my head and ear, which has stayed for the entire day. It was not long after that I got to switchback alley. From here I went down very slowly seeing if I could see my keys. When I reached the spot I had found my multi-tool I laid down my bike did some hiking to see if I could see them anywhere. No such luck. I never found my keys, but at least I tried, so I feel pretty good about that.

I hurried back to my taking Archies backwards--it is kind of weird going on Archies backwards, but it sure is fun, because it is a lot faster. I got back to the parking lot, and there was my husband with the spare set of keys. I had called him before I took off to look for the other set. Went to rack my bike and discovered my bag and come unzipped again and I had lost my multi-tool. Oh well, no need to go back. It was a fun ride, and I am glad for some of the mistakes I made, because I knew a quicker way up to switchback alley, however I will probably not take this way again, because I really do not want to get hit again, and I am definitely buying a new bike bag.

Test Ride

Went to AF Canyon to ride my favorite trail with Dorothy today. I don't think we could have asked for better conditions, perfect temperature and the trail was tacky from the rain the canyon had just received. There were a lot of hikers out on our way up, but nobody on the way down. We also passed a few riders going up, and as we were going down I came up to a rider on the down, but he refused to pull over. I backed off a little, but there was not doubt I was riding his tire and could go faster. Yet he still did not pull over. Let's do the math, you started on the down way before me, I catch you on the down, hmmm.....maybe I am going faster and you should pull over. Oh well, I still had a blast.

Dorothy coming up the hill toward the lookout.

Dorothy has never started the loop from Timpanooke, I was very excited to show her the fun trail she has been missing. I think she liked it, because she mentioned she was going to take her fiance on it. This has got be one of the best rides around.

I got my 29er back, I am glad I had another bike to ride while my bike was at the doctor's, but there is nothing better than riding my 29er. It rides the lines so perfectly, takes corners marvelously and now it has gotten even better, if that is even possible.

I have new front brakes which work great, but I also got new grips. I have been doing a little research and decided it was time to buy Ergon Grips. I was not 100% I would like them, but everything I researched told me I would. Since I am getting ready for 12 hours of Sundance and 24 Hours of Moab I thought it would be good to have what is supposedly comfortable grips. Well, the verdict is in and the grips are awesome!!! Todays ride I noticed a significant difference in my hand comfort, it was amazing. I know this was only one ride, but for the first ride to notice such a difference means there is only better things to come.

Girls Ride

Tonight was the final ride of the year for "Ride Like a Girl". I have been so excited for this ride all week, so much so that today I could hardly contain myself at work, 5 o'clock didn't come quick enough.

Our ride tonight was in AF Canyon. I have had so little riding time in AF this year, and it is one of my favorite places to ride--riding up there is always a treat. At first I thought we were going to ride from Summit parking lot and do a short loop, but KC had a different plan. Instead we were going to go down what I have always gone up. At first, unfortunately, my face showed some disappointment to not going down Deer Creek South Fork, but this was actually very wise on KC's part as we could have ended up in the dark and not everyone had lights. Once I realized I had the opportunity to go down a new direction I was excited. Even more so, because I got to lead the way down.

The ride down was a blast! We hit jump, after jump, after jump......after jump!!! You could hear girls whooping and hollering all the way down the trail. Oh did I mention there were 12 of us on the ride...yes, 12 girls loving every moment of it. Eventually we got to the bottom and it was time to turn around and go back up.

As Jen took off to go up she got chain suck. We were able to get it out, and then she and I took off to catch the rest. Well of course Jen caught the rest, and then went ahead of the rest. I caught some of the rest, except for Jolene, Patty and one other gal. Good training for Sundance try to catch up to the others.

On the up we got spread out. Jen, Patty and another gal hit the Summit with Jolene and then me right after. By the time we got to the Summit Jen and the others were not there. Jolene was worried they missed the turn, so she went down Jurassic to see if they went down that trail. I stayed and waited. Eventually Jolene came back--still no Jen. After a bit KC showed up with the others. We took off down Jurassic. This is a fun trail, or at least the part I rode. We did not go far as the sun was going down and we were losing light. By this time we still had not seen Jen and the others, so KC took off to find them, and we headed back. On the way back we ran into our lost riders. They had gone onto the ridge trail thinking this was the direction we were going to ride. So it turns out they were only kind of lost.

Now the next conundrum do we go get KC and let her know their okay or do we continue to the parking lot? We continued to the parking lot, and here is why. KC is the most amazing, strong and incredibly fast rider. We knew she could go down and up in the amount of time it probably would take us to get to the parking lot, and this was almost the case. KC showed up about 5 minutes after we arrived in the parking lot, and I am sure she was very relived everyone was okay.

The ride was great, and I am really sad there will not be any more "Ride Like a Girl" rides for the year, but at least I have something to look forward to next year.

Dutch Hollow

Jen, me & Jolene at the lookout for Heber Valley.

Trying to decide what to do this weekend. Option 1 go to Glenwild with the Bike Peddler group, option 2 AF Canyon--went with option 2 until I talked to Jen and she suggested Dutch Hollow. I have been wanting to check out this trail section for along, so of course I was in.

Dutch Hollow is in Midway not too far away, in fact it turns out it takes as long for me to go to AF Canyon as it does to go to Dutch Hollow. Not really knowing the trail system, we looked at the map in the parking area made some decisions and took off. Not knowing the trail system we learned very quickly many people do not go on the east side of the trail system. I think there were trails we rode that we were the only bikes to have graced the trial all year long.

We had a great time exploring and as we explored we explored right over to Aqueduct and Barrel Roll. There really are no words to describe Barrel Roll, other than pure fun. We went down and I could not stop laughing, it was better than being on a roller coaster. Of course at the bottom we knew we had to do this trail again, so we found another way to get to the trail. We ended up finding 4 different ways to this trail and ended up going down 4 times. Great ride for a Saturday.

Came across these guys on the trail with a broken chain. Jen pulled out the chain tool and went to work fixing the chain, as the guys looked on.

Jolene shows exactly why we went down this trial so much.

Nothing but smiles as I ride.

Jen going down Barrel Roll. The smile says it all.

I Pushed My Bike

Saturday I went on a great mountain bike ride. with Jen and Dale. The ride was ride up Mill Creek, take the Mid-Mountain Loop to Spiro, Thayne, Scotts Pass, and then down Wasatch Crest and Mill Creek back to the car. I was very excited for the ride and couldn't wait.

The ride started out with a few hitches, the first my 29er was in the shop so I had to ride my full suspension--thank goodness I had a bike to ride. The second hitch was my fs tried to shift by itself when I dropped my gears. Thank goodness Dale knew what to do. A quick adjustment of the cable and it quit automatic shifting. The third hitch, my body was not in a cooperative mood.

About a mile into the ride I started to have breathing problems, I became slightly asthmatic, and of course I did not bring my inhaler. I have been doing pretty good this year, in fact I have only had two issues this year so I felt pretty good about my breathing, so why bring my inhaler. Live and learn, it took a bit before I could breathe normally. I still need to keep that thing with me.

I wish I could say the only problem I had was my breathing, but no it became worse. I was a bit slow going up hill, but I attributed it to the bike. It turns out it was not the bike, but me. I seemed to not be able to turn the pedals like I normally do, and eventually around mile 18 my legs just quit working they did not want to turn. I got them to turn, but nowhere close to a good pace. Around mile 20 every little hill became the biggest, steepest incline I have ever taken on, and when I say little I mean little. I actually walked my bike on a couple of very small steeps. I was not happy with myself at all.

I really am not sure why my body quit working. Just a week and a half ago I mountain biked 26 miles and could have gone more, I felt great. This week I pushed my bike at mile 20 and by the time I got to puke hill, it was nothing but walking as three other riders went past. I wanted to think of excuses, but really there were none--it was a very humbling moment. I don't know why my body was so fatigued. Was a fuel problem, a heat problem, hydration or fatigue from lack of sleep? Whatever it was I am determined to go back and do this loop and not walk anything!

Once we reached the top of puke hill things went pretty well. I was out of water, but luckily Dale had water he could spare...thank goodness Dale was so prepared. Jen had to take off she had to be somewhere, since I was so slow today our ride went way longer than expected...way longer! From the top of puke hill things went pretty well. I had a blast going downhill on my full suspension bike. It has been a long time since I have ridden a full suspension bike and I forgot how well they absorb everything--it made going over the rocks a breeze. I also passed a few guys on the downhill--to me that was pretty cool since normally I do not pass going down. The entire ride we only saw a handfull of riders, very surprising on such a wonderful Saturday. I don't know how we got so lucky.

Of course by the time I got to the parking lot I was tired, so I did not continue on to do pipeline, but opted to ride in the car. When I got home I thought for sure I would be extremely sore the next day, but wouldn't you know it, no soreness what so ever, and I didn't feel fatigued, but I decided to rest anyway and not take any chances. Who knows maybe Saturday was just one of those days.
Flowers on the trail
Dale and Jen eating lunch.

Lookout at Mid-Mountain.

I Rode Rattle Snake Gulch!

I know it may not seem like a big deal to some, but to me it is huge. Last year I walked a good portion of Rattle Snake Gulch, so this year to be able to ride the whole thing is absolutely phenomenal to me.

Wednesday was a great day I met up with seven of my riding buddies to ride Wasatch Crest. We took the Wasatch Shuttle up to the start of the Silver Lake Trail. We got a great deal on the shuttle only $1 a person!
Drop off point for the shuttle--what a beautiful view.

The start of the trail is fun, but for some reason I was not riding it too well, I felt shaky and unsure, so I made sure everyone went in front of me. Eventually I made it to the bottom of the trail and the start of the climb. As I started the climb, I was thinking I must have remembered the climb incorrectly, because it was not that hard, but then I rounded the bend. Oh yeah, this climb is not over. I kept going and going and ended up passing a couple of the riders in our group. As I was going up, two riders in our group were going back down to climb it again (Ryan and Eric T). Now can I say I thought I was sick for liking climbs and such, but today doing that climb twice just seemed sick and wrong. By the time I got to the top I felt like I wanted to puke, yes I said it, puke--boy am I out of shape.
Top of puke hill.
At the top of the hill we waited for everyone and then took off down the trail. We had a little more climbing and then the flat. On the flat I was feeling good and my legs were starting to get warmed up and then there was a loud hissssssss. I quickly stopped, found the leak, and tipped by bike so it would seal up. Of course as luck would have it there was no more sealant left in my tire. It turned out my tire had a good tear on the side. Luckily Kerry had a boot and I had a tube so we sealed the tear and put a tube in and then got going. The good news is when we fixed my tire we discovered the front bearings were loose, so now I know why I was not riding so well.

Just as we got ready to go Stephen's brake pad fell out. While he fixed that I discovered my front brakes were not longer working. I kept trying to pump the brake to see if it was an air bubble and I could get it to move, but no luck. When ended up taking off after about 15 minutes or so of fixing tires and mechanicals with me having no front brake.

We rode the Crest all the way down Mill Creek and dropped into the parking lot. I chose to ride at the back, because of no brake and I didn't want to hold anyone up. Can I tell you this was a huge mistake. Have you ever ridden behind 7 other riders on a dusty trail. Two things happen, one you cannot see the trail and two you eat a lot of dust. Front brake or not riding in the back huge mistake. Also, riding down a trail really fast with no front brake, maybe is not the best idea. As we were going down riders were coming up. As long as the trail was wide, I was fine pulling over so they could ride and I could ride. However, at one point I was going down and the trail was narrow and not wide enough for two riders. All of the sudden Gordon stopped and yelled "rider up" all I could do was use my back brake and yell multiple times "I have no front brake, I have no front brake" as I tried to fish tail to a stop. Luckily the rider going up must have figured out I couldn't stop and he pulled over as I shot in between him and Gordon. Whew, that was a close one.

At the bottom of Mill Creek we took off down the road to catch the pipeline trail. This time I went near the front of the group and that's where I stayed until we reached Rattle Snake Gulch. Stephen was explaining to everyone how technical it was, I told them it was just plain yucky, which meant they would have a blast. I let everyone go in front, except for Gordon, he wanted to stay at the back, and then I went. Now remember I had no front brake, so I was gripping my back brake and just hoping for the best, and the best was what I got. I skidded the whole way down, but I made it!
Eric also got a flat apparently we can't go on group rides without multiple rides.

Todd turns off his cell phone.

Rock garden after the spine.

6 bikes in one truck not too bad of a feat.

Played All Night

Woke up Friday morning as usual to get ready for work. At 7 pm I met up with my friend Katie and her husband and we drove to Mount Pleasant for an all night softball game. I took Mandy with me to this tournament, she was so excited about the idea of staying up all night and watching mom play softball. I think she was probably the most excited about staying up all night.

The tournament was two pitch with our pitcher pitching to us. Great, because you know you are going to get great pitches. Different because the pitchers does nothing when the ball is hit, so you cover the field a little bit differently.

In the dugout

Our first game started at 9 pm--we won. We then had an 45 minute break before our next game. Mandy was so excited. She had already convinced Lloyd (Katie's husband) to buy her a snow cone. Played the next game at 10:50--we won. Now we had to wait to see when we would play again and how we were seeded.

Great spot to wait and hangout in between games. What you don't see are the tents in the background.

Once seeded this ended up to be the longest break we would have for the night, our next game wasn't until 1:20, so we had about an hour and a half to wait. This was perfect, I had time to get Mandy set up on a mat with a sleeping bag, get my sleeping bag and chair, get some food and get set up for the rest of the night. Once Mandy was set up on the sleeping bag I was hoping she would soon rest, and then turned out to be the case. Little by little she settled into the bag, and eventually she told me she wasn't tired, but her eyelids wanted to shut. Then she was out.

Mandy finally asleep.

We ended up playing games until 7:15 am in the morning, before we finally lost and were out of the tournament. For the most part it was pretty cold during night which kept me up all night long--well that and a diet coke I had at 5 am in the morning. This was the first all night softball for me. I am calling it preparation for 24 hours of Moab.

Ride Like a Girl - Ride

Went with Jolene yesterday for the monthly Ride Like a Girl Ride. We got to Mad Dog in Orem, and the only person there was KC. We visited for a bit while waiting to see if others would show up, but it turned out to be on me and Jolene this ride. After a little bit of discussion it was decided we would ride the BST over by bridal veil.

We started at the 800 North trailhead and rode up to the start of the trail. KC rode her single speed for this ride. It amazes me at what a lot of work the single speed takes, it also amazes me how KC can ride behind me on a trail and still keep going consistently even though I am not.

The first part of the trail I have been on, but it has been quite some time since I have ridden it. The second part of the trail I have not been on. KC led the way the new trail. It is a fun, quick simple trail until near the end where there are 3 tight switchbacks. Just prior to the swtichbacks KC stopped and described what we could expect from each switchback--I like it when people tell me about what to expect it makes the ride a little bit easier. The first switchback was a very steep left handed sharp turn. When I got to it, I stopped and thought no way. Luckily KC showed me and Jolene the right line, for the next time I go back. The next switchback was a right turn and I made it around with only a foot down! The final one was similar to the first but somewhat bermed. Unfortunately the bermed part did not take away my fear of spilling down the switchback, so I ended up getting off and walking...oh well, hopefully next time.

We ended the ride going to equestrian center and back to the trail head. Perfect night for a ride with the girls.

They Touched Many Lives

Last night was an unusual night for me--I went for a mountain bike ride. Not too unusual, but normally after a ride I come home I blog about it, check my email and facebook, but not last night, I was too tired. Next unusual thing I did was check my email and facebook the next morning before I went to work. I have never done this! Well, of course I found out that Susan had died yesterday, and although I only have met Elden very briefly, I have read his blog and laughed at his stories, sympathized over his struggles and now was sad from the latest post. It amazes me how someone I really do not know, and many of us do not know personally has touched my life, as well as so many others. My sympathies go out to Elden and his children through this time. Let us not forget to continue to donate to the Livestrong Foundation in Susan's honor and show our continued support inthe battle against cancer.

The Canyons

Mandy's 3rd place overall prize!

This race started out different than all of the rest. Usually our division starts near the back, but this time Ed started us at the first. It was pretty funny when we lined up in front of the pros, they were sure they were going to run us over, and of course they would if we were going on the same route, but our course had changed. Instead of doing a half and a full lap Ed had changed us to a full lap only. This meant we would be going up one way while the pros were going up a completely different way. It was actually very nerve racking being on the front line. Usually in the back we are joking around and visiting with each other, the front has a whole different feeling, much more pressure, less visiting and definitely less joking around.

Off the start I was not feeling too well. I was hot (like everyone else), dizzy and my stomach was not at it's best. Of course not feeling well did not stop me from starting out fairly strong, and in the front. As we went up the road I heard someone coming up behind me and knew it was Jolene. Not a few seconds later and we were riding side by side. As we were riding I mentioned I did not feel well, and Jolene told me I would feel better soon. She was right of course and she knows me. There is something that takes over and I forget about everything except riding.

Jolene and I rode up the road together and just before the turn into the single track I pulled behind her and told her to enter first. We rode up the singletrack together and pulled over together for a couple of the 16 year olds to pass. We did the same thing at Snowbird, pulling over together for people to pass. As we rode I would remember each switchback and how we needed to execute it. Eventually we came to the right hand switch back that you need to take very wide to get up. When we got to this switchback Jolene went wide but cut across, and didn't make it. By this time I was feeling good and took my chance to pass.

From this point on I brought my pace up and climbed. I don't know when it was Jolene and I became separated, but after a while I realized she was no longer behind me. This made for somewhat of a lonely ride and left me to many thoughts. Depending on how I was feeling I would think about the heat, my stomach, my favorite songs, other rides I have done--it's amazing what you end up thinking when you are riding by yourself. Eventually the climbing on the trail ended and I made it to the downhill.

I was ecstatic to reach the down hill. I had ridden the trail enough and felt I would be able to ride it at a good speed. This did not turn out to be the case. Instead I rode it like a sissy. I had a hard time negotiating the trail, I was getting bounced around and took turns much slower than I had a few days before. Somewhere on the lower loop Tiffany came up behind me and when we hit the up-down road near the end of the downhill she passed and I thought I would follow her line and do better, but this was not the case. I continued to ride poorly and only saw Tiffany for a short period of time.

While I as riding the downhill it finally dawned on me I hadn't seen Mandy yet! This was great, and I wondered if she had beat me to the finish line. It was not until the meadow part of the downhill at the hidden right hand switchback I saw Mandy. I passed her on the switchback and as I was riding I heard her call mom. I looked up, then behind me, slowed down and told her to follow me. We went along for a short time, and then I looked up and saw a red helmet at the top of the meadow. That meant only one thing Jolene was on her way down. I turned to Mandy and told her I had to go, and finished the last little part of the down and crossed the finish line. I then turned and watched as Mandy negotiated her way down the hill and crossed the finish line. Unfortunately she fell on the rocks on the final switchback and had to get cleaned up and bandaged by the paramedic, but the good news is she had fun and from what I heard did a great job with letting people pass.

I am a bit sad about this being the last Icup race of the season. It ended on a good note with me getting first at the race and first overall in my division. Mandy did great and got 3rd overall out of the girls in her division--she was a little sad she did not get recognized, but we made up for it with ice cream and the cute bracelets Dorothy sold for the Livestrong foundation. And although it is the end or Icup racing, it is not the end of riding and it leaves us with a lot to look forward to.

Coming up the road at the start.

Jolene and me riding side by side.

Good way to end the season.